Jacob's Vault
by jjslll54
Summary: Everyone else seems to be doing it so this will be where I put my story ideas. I sometimes have a dream or inspiration and want to write it down before I forget it. This is where it will go and yes, my first name is Jacob. The ideas may never go anywhere and anyone reading them is welcome to expand on them in their own way. Just drop me a note if you do so.
1. Chapter 1

**Jacob's Vault**

Chapter 1. Introduction

Not really a chapter, just an introduction as the site will label it chapter one anyway. Everyone else seems to be doing it so this will be where I put my story ideas. I sometimes have a dream or inspiration and want to write it down before I forget it. This is where it will go and yes, my first name is Jacob. The ideas may never go anywhere and anyone reading them is welcome to expand on them in their own way. Just drop me a note if you do so.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Three chapters for this story idea. I may or may not do anything else with it. This has been sitting on my hard drive for a long time. The story has some religious content in it. It is in no way an attempt to change anyone's personal beliefs in this area. Some of what is written is fact and can be researched on the internet and some conjecture. Just repeat to yourself," It is only a story."

Chapter 1: Prologue: The Meaning of True Love

Voldemort is finally dead. The body has been carted off to the side and the Malfoys are huddled in a corner hoping they will be able to get away again. All of the death eaters have been arrested and put into an unused classroom until a suitable holding facility becomes available. Harry is standing back in the shadows watching Hermione talking to Ron. He observes her staring intently into Ron's eyes as he is trying to persuade her to do something, which she apparently agrees to. As she hugs Ron, Harry observes that he has a smirk on his face that changes back to a smile when they separate. Hermione then walks away with a smile on her face that doesn't reach her eyes as she ascends the stairs to the common room with a slump in her shoulders.

"_I wonder what's wrong with her."_ Harry contemplates.

While he is watching her go up the stairs he feels a tug on his sleeve and looks down at a young first year girl standing there with a piece of paper in her hand.

"_Was I ever that small?" _Harry thinks to himself as he looks at her.

He kneels down so he is eye to eye with her and asks," What can I do for you my lady?"

She giggles and at him and with a slight blush holds out a piece of paper in her hand.

"I want to give this to you," she says," I think you need this more than I do. My mum has taught me to live by these rules ever since I can remember and says you can never go wrong if you keep these words in your heart. Read these words, search your feelings about them and then go to her before it is too late. She needs you."

Harry takes the paper from her and reads the lines encircled there and has an epiphany. He looks up from reading to thank the girl, but she is no longer standing next to him. Then, with a determined look on his face, follows the path Hermione took up the stairs to the common room to see if he can help her through whatever is bothering her. After all, she's been there for him all these years, now it is his turn. When he approaches the portrait door to the Gryffindor common room it opens without the password.

"She's inside crying," Celia says," You know what to do."

Harry nods to the fat lady and enters the common room where he walks over to where Hermione is sitting quietly crying. He sits next to her and takes her into his arms. She latches onto him and continues crying into his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Harry asks," Why are you crying? Ron asked you to be his girlfriend, didn't he? He told me earlier he was going to."

"Yes he asked me," Hermione says sniffling.

Harry conjures a handkerchief for her to blow her nose on, which she takes gratefully.

"So what's wrong?" Harry asks again.

"Ron doesn't really love me the way I thought he did," she says.

"What do you mean?" Harry asks," He told **me** he did. He said you were the one for him. He's been going on about it since third year."

"He may have **said** that to you," she says," but that is not what he was thinking."

"How would you know that, unless…" Harry pauses.

"Please don't get mad at me Harry, but after all of the arguing and fighting we do, along with the way he turned on you in forth year, plus him deserting us in the forest, I had to be sure." Hermione says," So, while he was trying to convince me to be his girlfriend I used wand-less legilimency on him. What I found was very shocking and disturbing."

"Go on," Harry encourages," I'm not mad at you Hermione."

Then softer," I could never be mad at you for any reason, and I finally understand why."

She looks into his eyes and a soft glimmer of hope creeps into her heart at what she sees.

"To put it bluntly, Ron has never been either one of ours friend," she says holding up her hand as he starts to protest," Let me ask you a few questions to help you understand what I'm going to tell you."

"Okay," Harry says," Ask away."

"First question; how did you find the platform back in first year?" she asks.

"I couldn't until Mrs. Weasley came along," Harry says thinking back, then his eyes widen as he realizes something.

"It was a setup, wasn't it?" he says.

Hermione nods.

"She was shouting about platform nine and three quarters and muggles; like she didn't care about the statute of secrecy." Harry tells her," I was just a naïve kid and was grateful for the help getting on."

"One other point Harry," Hermione says," Why did the school send Hagrid to fetch you when every other muggle born had a teacher that could demonstrate magic to the parents and answer questions? Professor McGonagall was the one to come to my house."

"That's a good question Hermione," Hagrid did do some magic. He lit the fire and made the boat go faster, but couldn't answer any of my questions about the magical world. I just thought he forgot to tell me how to get on the platform."

"He might have," Hermione says," But based on what I pulled from Ron's mind, he didn't tell you on Dumbledore's orders. When you got on the train, how many empty compartments did you pass before settling on the last one?"

"Several," Harry says," Ron lied to me when he said everywhere else was full, didn't he?"

"Yes he did," Hermione confirms," He's been getting paid five galleons a week since first year to keep you isolated from your peers. You know what happened when he tried to alienate me from our other classmates back in first year."

"Yea, you got caught in the bathroom with a troll," Harry says," he was very reluctant to come with me when I realized you hadn't been at the feast and didn't know about the troll."

"I'll bet, "Hermione says," The whole time we have known him we really haven't known him at all. He's extremely jealous of his brothers and sister and the only reason he kept telling you he fancied me was to keep you from becoming interested. He planned on dating me until he could get into my knickers and then dump me. He thought by becoming my girlfriend he could finally have something you didn't get. He thinks I'm just a mudblood whore who should be grateful he's even paying attention to me. MY OWN PARENTS KEEP ME AT ARMS LENGTH BECAUSE THEY THINK MY BEING A WITCH IS EVIL."

Hermione is in tears again as she yells out that last bit in anger and frustration. Harry holds her in his arms again to comfort her.

"Shhh, it's alright Hermione," Harry whispers to her as he holds her," I've got you and I have some news for you that I am hoping will brighten your day back up. I had an epiphany earlier and I'm hoping that sharing it with you will make you happy again."

Hermione sits back from him so she can look in his eyes and that glimmer of hope grows a little more in her heart.

"You see Hermione," Harry says while looking deeply into her eyes," All of my life I have never known love, or at least I thought I hadn't. When you left the Great Hall to go up the stairs earlier one of the first year students, a young girl, came up to me and tugged on my sleeve. I still can't believe we were ever that small. Anyway, she gave me a piece of paper and told me to read the passage circled on the page. While contemplating the words written there is when I realized something."

"What was that Harry?" she asks with renewed hope in her voice.

"The Dursley's have **never** shown me any love," Harry explains," but there is one person that has and I just didn't understand what it was. This person has always looked out for me when I wasn't looking. She was always there for me and when she wasn't, my heart ached. She looked after my best interest when she thought I was in danger and kept me on track with my studies. If it wasn't for her I'd probably be dead. Every time she got hurt my heart would stop and then start again when I was assured she was going to be okay. I've always thought of this person as my best friend, but those words on that page made me realize something else."

"I understand you are trying to tell me that I am your best friend, but what was it that made you bring this up?" Hermione asks.

"Just this Hermione," Harry says as he pulls the piece of paper from his pocket and reads," Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away."

"1 Corinthians 13:4-8," Hermione whispers.

"After reading that, I realized you are more than a friend to me Hermione," Harry says while taking her hands into his," you are my life and I can't live without you. When you were trapped in the bathroom back in first year something pulled me in your direction, telling me you were in danger. When you were petrified in second year I was lost without you. I snuck in as much as I could to sit by you and hold your hand. Third year I knew you were looking out for me with the broom but couldn't get a word in edgewise with Ron going on the way he did. I'm glad I finally got to apologize for that when he wasn't around. In forth year you stuck by me when the whole school turned against me, including Ron. In fifth year I nearly died when you were struck down by Dolohov in the Department of Mysteries. Sixth year I let my obsession with Malfoy and that stupid book get between us. If I had understood what love was back then it would have never happened. Then last year when we were at Malfoy manor I felt helpless at hearing your screams when Bellatrix LeStrange was torturing you. Through it all it has only been you for me Hermione. I was willing to be happy for you if you loved Ron instead and just stay available if you needed me."

He takes a deep breath while she looks into his eyes with the beginning of a smile on her face," Since we are not going to have anything to do with Ron ever again, would you consent to be my girlfriend?"

Hermione bursts into tears and throws herself into Harry's arms and says," Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes, I have been waiting to hear those words since first year. I didn't think I stood a chance. Ohh please kiss me Harry and make it official."

Harry leans in while she rises up to him and when their lips meet there is an explosion of light as they are enveloped in the glow of a forming soul bond. The light gets brighter by the second and an ethereal wind picks up and blows around the room. Harry and Hermione are completely unaware of this as they deepen their kiss, pouring all of their pent up love for each other into the kiss. The wind becomes an entity of its own (Think Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Arc) and like a small tornado rushes out of the room down the stairs to the Great Hall. It rushes around the hall and as it blows across Voldemort's body; it turns to ash, as do all three Malfoys and the dead death eater bodies. The wind rushes out of the Great hall and finds a certain unused classroom where all of the death eaters are taken out. A certain little first year girl has a satisfied smile on her face and with a flash, turns into a white dove that ascends towards the ceiling and fades from view. The wind heads back up the stairs followed by the Weasley's, Hagrid, the new minister and McGonagall. When they arrive the wind is blowing around the room and in a temper Ron pulls his wand as soon as he sees the kissing couple, firing a slicing curse from point blank range. The curse impacts the couple, causing the light to flare too bright for anyone to see anything. The wind blows around the room and engulfs Ron, turning him into ash and then moves right into the light which flares again and disappears. When everyone can see again Harry and Hermione are gone.

"Damn you Ronald Weasley," Professor McGonagall cries out as she falls to her knees crying at two more lives lost to the Blood war.

ooOOoo


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 2: Awakening **_

Harry is sitting at the leaving feast watching the doors for Hermione when all of a sudden the room starts spinning, so he closes his eyes and lays his head down on the table to hopefully keep from getting sick to his stomach. No need to embarrass himself by throwing up on the supper table. Ron taps him on the shoulder.

"What's wrong with you?" he asks," What's taking so long with the food? I'm starving."

"Oh shut up Ron," Neville says," They are probably waiting on the petrified students to come down so they can participate in the leaving feast with the rest of us. You heard what Professor McGonagall said, they are reviving them right now."

"Why should we have to wait for them?" Ron whines," They can eat when they get here. I want my food."

Neville just ignores Ron's further whining as he watches Harry lie there with concern for his friend as he moans while holding his stomach. While he is lying there with his eyes closed tightly, trying mightily to control his nausea, Harry is receiving memories from another life. He feels his magical core strengthening beyond anything he has felt before. His body feels much stronger as he can feel it filling out. Luckily for him, his wizard robes cover these changes up, so nobody notices. His hearing improves so much he can hear whispered conversation three tables over. His nausea starts to abate, so he opens his eyes to see if the spinning has gone away and everything is fuzzy, so he takes his glasses off to clean them when he notices that without his glasses he can see perfectly clear. He sits up and shakes his head as if a little groggy and looks around the Great Hall.

"All right there Harry?" Neville asks concerned.

Harry looks over at Neville and is amazed at how young he looks.

"Never better," Harry replies while looking around," Where's Hermione?"

Neville gives him a funny look," You should know where she is Harry. You've been sitting at her side in the hospital wing for the last two weeks. Are you sure you are all right?"

"Hospital wing?" Harry says surprised while starting to get up," I have to get to her."

He finishes standing up to go check on her when the doors to the Great Hall open and there stands Hermione. He looks into her eyes, reading the years of strife they went through together reflected there and holds his arms open to her. She runs down the aisle and into his arms, latching onto him for all she is worth.

ooOOoo

While Harry is going through his dizzy spell down in the Great Hall, up in the hospital wing Professor Snape enters through the doors carrying a caldron full of the mandrake de-petrifying potion. Madame Pomfrey rolls a cart over to him with some dosage cups on it to set the caldron on. They start ladling out the dosages when they both catch a glow starting to emanate from Miss Granger's torso. It starts small and then spreads throughout her body. As they watch, her skin starts to change from the grey color of stone to a healthy pink.

"Impossible," Snape says as he pulls his wand," she's healing herself."

Madame Pomfrey joins Professor Snape with her wand as they point them at her to check her over with diagnostic spells. As they cast the spells a blue shield snaps into place around her, causing the spells to be deflected back at them. They each dive out of the way of their own reflected spell, not sure if the shield changed them from a diagnostic spell to something else. Hermione is unaware of the shield that is protecting her from a perceived threat while she is healing. Snape and Pomfrey decide that after having their spells reflected back at them it is better to watch from a distance, so they move around a corner and stick their heads out. After a few minutes the glow fades and Hermione wakes up. She gasps as she sits up suddenly in her bed while looking around, realizing she is in the hospital wing. She hadn't spotted the healer and professor yet since they had run around a corner and are just poking their heads out.

"What am I doing here?" she asks, talking to herself.

She takes in her situation by looking around at the other beds to see if there are any clues as to why she is in the hospital wing. She looks over at Harry's bed and smiles fondly at her memories of the many hours she has spent there holding his hand while he recuperates from one injury or another.

"Wonder what happened to his name plaque?" she asks herself quietly.

Snape and Pomphry notice the smile and then look at each other trying to understand what she is talking about.

Then she spots the petrified students and her hands fly up to her mouth in surprise.

"Oh shit, I'm back in second year and my teeth are big again," the professor and healer hear her groan as she runs her tongue along her upper teeth," That just won't do. I will not put up with having hideous teeth again."

The pair of adults looks on as Hermione, with a flip of her wrist, conjures a hand mirror. She smiles while looking into the mirror and wills her two large front teeth to downsize until they are even with the rest.

"That's better," she says as she flips her wrist again, banishing the mirror to where ever things go when you banish them. She then climbs out of bed and with a snap of her fingers is dressed in her Hogwarts robes. She slips her shoes on and as she starts to walk out of the hospital wing she spots Professor Snape and Madame Pomfrey.

"Oh," she pauses," have you seen Harry?"

"Yes," Madame Pomfrey answers," I released him a couple of hours ago and told him to wait in the Great Hall for you. He wanted to stay, but I shooed him away to get cleaned up for the leaving feast."

"Okay," Hermione says," I best get to him as I'm sure he's worried about me. I could hear everything he said to me while I was petrified and he asked me to be his girlfriend you know. I intend to say yes."

Madame Pomfrey smiles and holds out her hand and Professor Snape scowls as he puts a small bag of gold into it.

Hermione smiles and just shakes her head at their action.

She starts to walk again while saying to Professor Snape," Professor, if you are very nice to my Harry there is a sixty three foot basilisk carcass down in the Chamber of Secrets. He might let you in to harvest some of it for your lab."

He just nods at her, still in shock at what he just witnessed from a second year student. He decides right then and there to not mess with her. At least until he figures out what it was he witnessed. Hermione takes off running from the hospital wing, causing a small wind behind her, not realizing exactly how fast she is running and makes it to just outside the doors to the Great Hall in just a few seconds. As she runs down the hallways, every portrait she passes is restored to like new with flowers appearing in portraits with landscapes. The suits of armor she passes are restored to a bright and shiny finish and stand their posts proudly once more. The soot from the wall sconces is gone, allowing for more reflected light due to the clean walls. This phenomenon continues on throughout the school and even Filch is surprised when the mess he is trying to mop up disappears. Everything is clean and like new. Hermione slows down as she approaches the doors to the Great Hall and the castle, recognizing one of its heirs due to her sudden increase in power levels, opens the doors for her. She waits for the doors to open and when they do she spots Harry standing there next to his seat at the Gryffindor table looking at her. She looks into his eyes and recognizes her war weary Harry and as soon as he holds his arms open for her she runs into them giving him a big hug. During the hug she can feel how his body has filled out and knows for sure this is her Harry. She pulls her head back to look into his eyes again and then tilts her head up to kiss him. He leans in and when their lips touch, their bodies begin to glow. The glow gets brighter the longer they kiss and while they are kissing they float up to about two meters off the floor, slowly revolving around each other. A green mist leaves Harry's scar, trying to escape the feelings of love from the couple, as it is like acid to it. It doesn't quite make it past the light before it dissipates. Small pouches of gold coins start changing hands all around the Great Hall, even at the teachers table, as they watch the show. The Potters eventually come up for air, noticing that they are floating two meters off the floor and are still glowing. Something fundamentally changes within the couple as they can feel what the other feels and hear each other's thoughts.

"_What's going on Harry? We're hovering without a broom,"_ Hermione thinks to him, then gasps," _Harry there is a mark behind your right ear. Do I have one?"_

"_Yes you do Hermione,"_ Harry thinks back to her as he examines it_," I suspect the Creator of all things had a hand in this. Why else would the little girl give me a page from the bible like that? Most witches and wizards don't go near churches due to their prejudices against our kind."_

"_That and they generally stay away from the muggle world altogether,"_ Hermione finishes.

The couple looks around and notices everyone staring at them as they float there. They float back down to the floor and will the magic back into their bodies, causing the glow to fade away. As they turn to sit in their place at the table they see a flicker of light forming to their left towards the head table. They turn to watch as a figure of a woman appears and solidifies. She is wearing robes of blue with piping the color of all four houses.

She bows to Harry and Hermione and says," Now that you two have bonded and come into your full powers I can speak to you masters. As the heirs to the four founders you are now in control of the school and I pass onto you the knowledge and wisdom you require. Please return the school to its original charter. It has become corrupted beyond recognition by the bigots that are now in power."

Harry and Hermione feel control over the wards to the school pass to them from Dumbledore. He recognizes the change and slumps a little in his chair.

"We hear and obey Lady Hogwarts," Harry and Hermione chant as they bow back to her.

"Oh no," she says," It is I who must obey you. I will come when you call."

With that said, she fades out again. All of the teachers and students, except for two, stand and bow to the couple, who bow back.

"What's going on Headmaster?" Professor McGonagall asks when she sees him slump while the couple is talking to the Lady," Are you okay?"

"I am no longer headmaster," he answers," the wards for the school just passed to those two. When that happens it means the school is no longer happy with the current headmaster and has picked a replacement. The glow means they are soul bonded which means they are now married and that woman is the lady Hogwarts. I saw her once when I first became headmaster. She hasn't appeared since."

"I think your greater good you keep going on about is about to bite you in the ass," she whispers to him smugly. She had always thought Professor Dumbledore was a little too full of himself for his own good.

"We'll see," he whispers back to her," There is more going on than you know about. We will need to have a meeting with those two to find out what they are going to do."

Professor Snape and the recently unpetrifed students enter the Great Hall just as Harry and Hermione finish speaking to the Lady Hogwarts. They bow along with the rest of the school except for the two students. One being Draco Malfoy who has been told all his life Malfoys bow to no one and the other Ron Weasley who is fixated on his rumbling stomach and not paying attention. Harry and Hermione turn to Professor Dumbledore.

"It appears we are the owners of the school now," Harry says," There will be a few changes we wish to make that will hopfully end the strife that runs rampant in the school. One of the changes will be the elimination of the houses. The house cup has been a joke ever since you hired Mr. Snape to teach potions. When you allow someone to take points for infractions like blinking too loud or licking your lips then changes need to be made or the children will never learn there are consequences for their actions. When a teacher blatenly favors one house over another then it is obvious the house system is not working. It is also obvious the sorting hat makes mistakes by allowing the students to have a say in where they want to go. I'll give you a couple of extreme examples in our year. One is Draco Malfoy, the second one is Ronald Weasley. Each was put into the house that was tradition for their family despite their traits. Malfoys are always in Slytherin while Weasleys always go to Gryffindor. The problem is that the two in question have none of the traits of their house. Draco is always running his mouth about how great his family is and tries to rub it in every chance he gets. He is always instigating trouble with me by walking over to my table and trying get under my skin. That is about as subtle as a bull in a china shop. Sounds like a Gryffindor to me, always rushing in without thinking of the consequences of their actions. The only ambition I think he has is to see how many times he can get beat up during the school year. A true Sytherin wouldn't want to be in Slytherin house at all. Being typecast like that would mean the whole world knows they are supposed to be cunning, sly and ambitious, not to be trusted at all since who knows what their real agenda is. A true Slytherin would want to be unnoticed by the masses while they work behind the scenes to achieve their goals.

Now Gryffindor house is supposed to be brash and bold and people expect us to rush into things before thinking first. Hermione always gets onto me for doing just that. Ron Weasley on the other hand is working like a Slytherin. He is being paid by someone to be my friend and keep me isolated from others while he likes to bask in what he perceives is the glory of being the only friend of The-Boy-Who-Lived. That's why he subtley tells lies about Hermione and I behind our backs when he thinks we aren't looking. He thinks being a pure-blood means that everything will be given to him on a silver platter and he is better than everyone else. He has a goal of separating me and Hermione. He thinks that since he is a pure-blood and she is a first generation witch, she has to bow down before him and do whatever he says. Of course he uses the "M" word which is impolite in present company. I have news for Ronald Weasley, Hermione is a founders heir so she can't be a first generation witch.

Another example is myself. The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin and if I hadn't met Draco Malfoy before the sorting that is where I would have ended up. I didn't know anything about the houses then, I just didn't want to be in the same house as the arrogant, stuck up wanker. I didn't ask for Gryffindor, I just asked the hat to put me anywhere but Slytherin after I saw Draco sorted there. That would have been true for any house he went into. I learned from my muggle relatives to hate bigoted bullies, unfortunately, Ron falls into that category as well.

As for the other houses, Hufflepuff is considered the house of duffers by most of the school while Hermione and I think it is the most stable house in the school. They represent the hard workers of our society. Without them nothing would get done.

The Ravenclaws are supposed to be the house for the smart students yet they are being really stupid about one of their own. The girl in question has only been here for a year and she is being bullied by her peers for being different. I'll admit she has her quirks, but most geniuses do. She has an IQ of nearly two hundred and if the teachers will look at who the top girl is in first year you will find her name there. The girls that are bullying her should instead seek her out as she is a true genius and could help her house rack up the points, instead they try to drive her away. Not very Ravenclaw like if you ask me."

Harry pauses for a minute and to the astonishment of the students and teachers, flicks his wrist to conjure a glass of water and then takes a sip. He then lets go of the glass and it floats where he left it.

"This lecturing sure does make a person thirsty," Harry says as he take another sip," I don't see how you teachers do it every day. Professor Dumbldore, before you ask, Hemione and I learned all of these facts from Lady Hogwarts as she is constantly monitoring the school. We will have a more private meeting this evening to implement our plan. Now back to the house system. What we are going to do is separate the students by years. This is a boarding school, not a social experiment to see what stereotyping young children will do to them in the long term. We will separate the students into year groups. First and second years will be in one dorm. This will allow the second years to help the firsties get settled in to the routine that is Hogwarts. Third and fourth years will have a dorm. They are sort of in the middle as they are settled allready and know what is expected of them. The next dorm will be for fifth and sixth years. As we all know fifth year is O.W.L. year and with the sixth years having already been through it can help them get through the stress caused by the extra studying and testing. The last dorm will be for our N.E.W.T. students. Since most of them will be adults, they should need the least supervision and can be the role models for the rest of us. The dorm can also be used for any apprenticed students, who can help the seventh years in their studies. These changes will bring about social order in the school and allow all of the same age students to grow and learn together. Human nature states that as students age, they have less tolerance for the over energetic, rowdy, younger students who want to play and make noise. I'm sure the older students will appreciate the peace and quiet that will come as they study with their peers without the younger ones around to disturb them."

Harry and Hermione are watching the students as he is speaking and notice a lot of smiles and nodding of heads of the older students. Even Professor McGonagall is liking what she is hearing.

"I'm telling all of you this now so you can tell your parents when you go home on the train tomorrow," Harry says," You will get official letters in the mail during the summer. The founder's names will remain, but they will be dorm names instead of house names. There will be no more points for separate houses, but there will be points for individuals with the top students in each year group getting awards based on the points. Prefects will be determined by merit and personality. They have to be in the top ten for their year group and have the personality for the position. As an example, the fifth year prefect, would be chosen from the previous forth year top ten students for boys and girls. Personality comes into play as you have to be able to get along with other students and show leadership abilities. This means that you could be the number one student in grades, but be a complete snob to others making you unsuitable for a leadership role. The same goes for the Head boy and Girl positions. If these positions appeal to you then you now know what is expected of you and you can can work towards the goal. There will be no more prefects picked on who you know or whose daddy has the most money."

Harry looks over at Percy Weasley, a sixth year Gryffindor," Percy, as the top student in your year, I know for a fact you were going to be picked for head boy next year. The problem is you haven't really shown any leadership qualities. All you do is stick your nose in the air and quote the rulebook as you give and take points from students. The rulebook is a good guideline to have, but you also have to take into account the circumstances of why a rule was broken in the first place and not be so absolute in your decisions. You will find the world is not black and white, it is usually somewhere in between. Hermione and I want you to write an essay this summer to explain to us why you should be head boy and how you will handle situations with students. We will write you a letter giving you several hypthetical situations and you will tell us how you would handle them. If your answers are satisfactory, Hermione and I will sit down with you and have a discussion about your answers to see if we can get you to understand the true role of head boy. Penny Clearwater is the chosen girl for next year and she is well grounded in her role as a co-leader for the student body. Think about the difference between her and your personalities and I think you will get an idea of what I'm talking about. We look forward to reading your essay."

Harry pauses again for a drink of water," You all may be wondering about **my** change in personality and how **I** came up with all of this stuff with just being a second year student. You all heard earlier when we were given all of the wisdom and knowledge from Lady Hogwarts a few minutes ago and this is what she wants for the school. Hermione and I are the owners of this now private school and we want to give you the best education possible for the tuition costs your parents are paying for you."

Harry turns back toward Dumbledore and says," The floor is now yours Professor."

"I love it when you let your intellectual side out to play," Hermione says to Harry as she kisses him on the cheek," you should do that more often."

"I'll see what I can do if I keep getting rewards like that," Harry says playfully as they walk back to their table."

"Can we eat now?" Is heard from Ron Weasley's mouth.

Professor Dumbledore stands up ignoring Ron and says," Another year has ended and we hope you all are full of the knowledge and wisdom we have passed on to you. Some more than others it seems. Since the house cup has been abolished we will have the banners change thus. Let the feast begin."

He claps his hands and the banners above each table change to the house that they are above and the food appears on the table.

"Finally," Ron says as he starts to pile food on his plate. Once he gets to a certain point though any food he tries to put on his plate goes back to the tray it came from.

"Hey, what's going on?" Ron asks, frustrated he can't pile it as high as he normally does.

"I think you will find Ronald," Hermione answers as she adds some sliced beef and potatoes to her plate," that Lady Hogwarts is fed up with your eating habits. Until you learn to eat like a civilized person and not a pig at a trough, you will only get two servings at each meal. You have two servings of everything on your plate right now and that is all you will get until you learn to eat properly. If you can learn to eat like the high and mighty pure-blood wizard you claim to be, you will be able to eat more if you are still hungry after your first two servings. Even Draco Malfoy knows how to eat his meals properly. He may be a prat but knows proper etiquette at the dinner table. You could learn from him, or just watch your sister eat."

"That's not fair," he whines.

"Ron," Harry says to get his attention," Look around you. No one else eats like you do. You are lucky there isn't more room at the table or you would be sitting all by yourself at meals. No one wants to sit by you and we only tolerate you to help screen you from the others. You don't have to eat as if every meal is your last. Each meal time lasts one and a half hours, so you have plenty of time to eat all you need to keep your metabolism going. We know witches and wizards require more food sometimes because of the drain on our cores during lessons. The smaller the core the more you need to eat to keep it going all day. I know it sounds backwards but more powerful witches and wizards don't have to eat as much because with their larger core they have a lot of reserve power for classwork. Now on the occasion that a more powerful witch or wizard gets into some high powered spell casting, **then** they would need to eat quite a bit to help replenish their core. So by eating as much as you do, you either have a very small core and are not very powerful, or you are just a glutton and don't know when to stop eating."

Ron just grunts as he stuffs his mouth full. Harry and Hermione sigh and look at each other shaking their heads. It was hoped a play on his ego about his core size would help change his habits. Well, if he wants more food next year he will have to change.

After the meal is finished Harry signals for the head staff to follow him to the Headmasters office. Harry and Hermione walk hand in hand ahead of the five teachers and the gargoyle moves aside as they approach.

"Thank you Chester," Hermione says.

"Your welcome my Lady," Chester answers in a gravely voice.

The teachers all look at the gargoyle in surprise and pass onto the revolving staircase up to the Headmaster's office. With a wave of his hand Harry expands the chair behind the Headmasters desk and the pair sits next to each other. Hermione waves her hand and five chairs appear for the teachers. Astonished at the power shown by the pair, the teachers all sit to await the start of the meeting.

Harry starts off," We've said most of what we want to change for next year down in the Great Hall. The four houses will now become four dorms based on year groups. Professor Snape, you will get the seventh year students to give you more time to work on your research in potions as they will not need to be supervised as rigorously as the younger students."

Professor Snape nods his head in satisfaction with that decision since he has always had little patience for some of the younger students.

"Professor Flitwick can have the fifth and sixth years as they will need his expertise for O.W.L.S. and to help the sixth year students get ready for their upcoming N.E.W.T. year.

"That will be fine Mr. Potter," he says," I know what's expected of me."

"Professor McGonagall will take the third and forth year students as there is no pressure from being new to Hogwarts or have to worry about O.W.L.S. This will also give you more time for your deputy head duties."

She nods to Harry that this is acceptable to her.

"Last but not least is you Professor Sprout," Harry says," We have seen you are very good with the younger ones, so you will get the first and second year students."

"Thank you Mr. Potter," she says," I always wanted children of my own, but couldn't have any. That is why I picked teaching for a career."

"You are very good at it," Hermione comments.

"Thank you."

"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione says," You will continue as Headmaster as you have the most experience. However, Harry and I control the wards around the school."

Harry pulls out a pendant with an engraving of a potions master stirring a caldron over a fire and hands it to Professor Snape.

"You will need this shortly professor," he says," we are going to change the wards to exclude any Death Eaters from having access to the school. We know you are not an active member but you have the mark. You will not be able to duplicate the charms on the pendant for anyone else and it will not work for anyone else in case it is stolen from you. This is for your own protection and as long as you stay true to your calling as a teacher you will be safe within the wards. I suggest you get some help this summer on how to teach a class properly. 'Instructions are on the board. You have one hour.' Is not how to teach a class. I'm sure that is not how you were taught potions and we would like to be taught properly so we can learn from you. You have the distinction of being the youngest potions master in the history of Britain and I want our students to be able to brag about being taught by you."

Professor Snape nods his acceptance. He is finally getting that the Potters are not bad people as he is seeing more of Lilly Potter in her son than James, his most hated enemy in school.

"There is something we wanted each of you to see," Hermione says as she and Harry stand up and come around the desk to stand in front of the teachers.

Hermione moves her hair back away from her right ear and shows them her mark. It is a silver tattoo of an ankh symbol with rays emitting out from it.

"Harry has one too," she says as he shows his," we got these from the Creator of all Things as we were sent back in time from our seventh year after we defeated Voldemort in another time line. We are mentally eighteen and nineteen years old and have lived through a vicious war where way too many people died needlessly. Professors Snape and Dumbledore were counted among the casualties. We would like to prevent that happening this time."

She looks over to Dumbledore who had perked up in his chair at this news," yes the one Harry had is gone and we know where the rest are."

He sits back in his chair and sighs as if a great weight is lifted from his shoulders with a smile on his face.

"Professors Sprout and McGonagall," Hermione says to get their attention," You might want to consider some type of leadership rolls for your top students to act as prefect for your dorms. Or, you could hire dorm mothers to supervise the children so they don't get too rowdy. It's up to you which route to take. This will allow you more time for your teaching duties."

"That about wraps it up for this evening," Harry says standing up," We will always be open to new ideas for classes and methods. Have a good summer holiday."

Just as he finishes speaking a knock comes on the door.

"Enter," Professor Dumbledore says as he takes his seat behind his desk. The diary Harry stabbed in the Chamber of Secrets is sitting on the desk where the younger Harry had left it earlier in the day before his memory and other upgrades.

The door opens and Lucius Malfoy enters, along with Minister Fudge and Dobby the elf. Harry catches the eye of Professor Snape.

"_Put your pendant on discreetly professor,"_ Harry sends to him, _"We are going to change the wards now."_

Professor Snape looks down briefly with his eyes to acknowledge the message. He takes the pendant from his pocket and slips it over his head while everyone is focused on the Malfoy and the Minister. Harry looks over to Professors Flitwick and Sprout and sends to each of them.

"_You need to find a way to leave the room and call Madame Bones of the DMLE. He is the Death Eater that sent the diary that released the Basilisk on the school. We are going to trap him here with the new wards."_

Harry and Hermione look over at the two new additions and how the office is becoming crowded. Harry speaks up.

"Well, it looks like you adults have things to talk about. Me and Hermione will just retire to our dorm for the evening. Good night professors."

"Good night Harry," Professor Dubmbledore says," Sleep tight, it's a long train ride tomorrow."

He had picked up the thoughts sent to the two other professors and was wondering what they have planned. Professors Flitwick and Sprout also make their excuses and leave the office. They both head quickly to Professor Sprout's office as it is closer.

After the professors had left Malfoy sneers at Dumbledore.

"I see you weaseled your way back in to the headmastership. Why did you call me here?"

Professor Dumbledore picks up the diary and hands it to Mr. Malfoy who then hands it off to Dobby since it is covered in something sticky," Yes, the governors decided to reinstate me once purebloods started getting petrified. It seems that the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets couldn't discern what type of blood a person has running through their veins."

Malfoy pales when he hears about the basilisk. His own son was in danger and he didn't know it or he would have removed him from the school and sent him to Durmstrang before implementing his plan.

Dumbledore watches as the color drains from Malfoy's face," I see you now realize the folly of your plan to discredit the Weasleys. Yes, I know It was you that put the diary into Ginevra's caldron last summer. The book has your magical signature all over it."

At the same time Fudge is standing there wondering why Malfoy had asked him along. Not that he was complaining since Malfoy's gold is a good incentive to tag along. When what is being said sinks in he scowls at Malfoy and moves away from him. As he is moving away in disgust and horror two things happen in rapid succession. The door opens again admitting Madame Bones with her two auror guards, Shacklebolt and Dawlish. Then Fudge feels powerful wards spring up around the school as Malfoy and Dawlish both grab their left forearms as they are now in excruciating pain.

"What's going on here?" Bones and Fudge ask in unison.

As they finish Harry and Hermione phase into the office to the surprise of everyone there.

"Well, this is a surprise," Harry states," We expected to catch Malfoy but it looks like we got someone else as well."

Madame Bones takes immediate action and stuns the two men holding their arms. She looks over at Harry and asks.

"I'm Madame Bones, head of the DMLE," she introduces herself," Are you responsible for this?"

"Yes ma'am," Hermione answers for Harry," We are. We set the wards for the school to keep out anyone with the mark of Tom Riddle, better known to you as Lord Voldemort."

Hermione waves her hand and the sleeves of both men are removed exposing the angry red of the dark mark being acted upon by the wards.

"We were hoping to catch Mr. Malfoy for being a Death Eater," Harry says," He is the one responsible for letting a Basilisk into the school to terrorize the students. He is damn lucky no one was killed. We weren't expecting you to bring one with you."

"I had no idea he was one," Madame Bones says," So many of them got off on the Imperious Curse defense."

"There is no way that defense should have worked," Hermione says to her.

"What do you mean?" Bones asks.

Hermione points to the mark on Malfoy's arm," That is a protean charm that has been warped way beyond what they are meant for. This one has to be taken willingly as the person taking it is binding his very soul and magic to the caster. Only true redemption will get rid of the mark, or the death of Voldemort. They could probably be brainwashed into taking the mark through good recruiting, but that would still make them guilty as they have to murder someone in cold blood in front of the caster to split off the piece of their soul that is bound to the mark, linking them to the caster for the rest of their lives. The Imperious Curse can't be used for this. It has to be free will. The soul piece can be reintegrated into the person and removed from the mark if the person is truly redeemable. The mark will fade over time as the person makes up for his or her sins and satisfies the Creator. The fact that these twos marks are so red and causing so much pain tell me they have no intentions of redeeming themselves. After all they have had since October thirty first nineteen eighty one to do so."

"Shack, you know what to do," Madame Bones orders him and then turns to the Minister," Cornelius, what are you doing here? Never mind, we need to get back to the Ministry and start screening everyone. This proves that anyone taking the mark was lying when they claimed the Imperious Curse for a defense."

Harry hands her a parchment," Just cast this spell onto the ward stone for the Ministry and you will find out who is and who is not a former Death Eater. You can then question them about their activities since the war and decide what to do with them. Regardless of your findings, everyone of them has committed at least one murder."

She takes the parchment from him and says," We will consider it, Mr. Potter. Everyone in this building owes you a life debt for killing the basilisk. Yes my niece wrote me about it."

"Well," Harry says," I'm not the type of person to take advantage of someone for this. As owners of this school, as long as the children behave themselves reasonably well I don't see why this should come up at all. If they try to do something criminal to me or mine in the future I might call it in at that time to make them turn themselves in to the DMLE to face whatever charges they have coming to them."

"That's a very mature attitude to take Mr. Potter," she says," Thank you."

Harry nods at her as she walks over to the fireplace to floo out. After she leaves Harry turns to Dobby, who is standing there holding the diary wondering what to do next as he is afraid to do the wrong thing for fear of being punished again.

"Open it," Harry whispers to Dobby.

Dobby opens the book and a sock falls out of it into his hand.

"Master has given me clothes," He breathes out unbelievably," Dobby is free."

Harry pulls up a leg of his pants to show a missing sock and Dobby grabs him around both legs hugging Harry for all he is worth. Harry looks over to Hermione who nods at him.

"Would you like to bond with me Dobby?" Harry asks," Hermione and I could use a good elf to take care of us. We're not sure of our summer plans yet but we will call you when we are settled."

"Is would loves to bonds to the great Harry Potter sir," Dobby squeaks out.

Harry and Hermione move over to him and place a hand on a shoulder apiece.

"_**We bond to you as family Dobby Potter. May you never know strife again,"**_ they chant together.

Harry and Hermione are surprised by the bright pulse that leaves them and enters Dobby's body. Everyone in the office watches as the most amazing thing happens. Dobby starts to glow slightly and grows another two feet, making him four and a half feet tall. His head and eyes shrink down to a normal size with the eyes slanting a bit like an Asian person and his ears becoming small and pointed at the top. He grows hair that is a dark forest green in color that shimmers a bit as he moves. His dirty tea towel becomes a dark maroon uniform with the Potter crest above where a breast pocket would be if he had one. He has on matching trousers and boots.

He bows to them and says," How may Dobby serve you my Lord and Lady?"

"For now, you can help out the elves here at Hogwarts," Harry says," We still have to straighten out Hermione's parents before we can call you. If everything goes well, that is where we will be."

Hermione looks over at him sharply when he says that with a questioning look on her face. She reads his intent by looking into his eyes and latches onto him with everything she has by grabbing his arm and snuggling into his side. The pair nod to the stunned professors as they walk out of the office on their way back to the common room of Gryffindor tower.

"I love you Mr. Potter," She says as molds herself to his side.

"I love you too Mrs, Potter." Harry says back to her as he squeezes her with his arm that is around her waist.

ooOOoo


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3: Meeting the Reluctant Parents

The next morning, Harry and Hermione meet in the common room to head down to breakfast before the trip home. They are both very tired from not being able to sleep. As soon as they touch hands they begin to feel much better and get some of their energy back.

"It was hard to sleep without you Harry," Hermione says to him as they walk," I kept having to fight the urge to go to you all night long."

"It's probably our bond," Harry reasons," I think that is why we are both so tired. I expect we will have to be touching in some way until the bond stabilizes. We are too young to finalize the bond by consummation so we will just have to be together constantly until we are old enough. I think if we sleep together where we are constantly touching it will get better."

"I can live with that Harry," Hermione says," convincing my parents will be a problem. They barely tolerate me as it is."

"We will fix that soon enough if I understand the reason for their feelings," Harry says.

"You do." Hermione answers.

"Hermione," Harry asks," did you get your rings last night?"

"Yes I did," she answers," One of them I figured out easily enough, being a descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw. The other was a surprise as it is the Slytherin ring. Until this morning I thought I was a muggle born."

"We can go to Gringotts for a bit while we are on the train for a heritage test," Harry suggests.

"That's a good idea," Hermione agrees as they enter the Great Hall.

They sit at their usual place at the Gryffindor table and fill their plates with a full English breakfast. Ron shows up at fifteen minutes till nine, which is the cutoff time for breakfast, and tries to fill his plate up with too much food which again stops at two helpings. He groans.

"Not again, I'm starving,"

"You know what you have to do Ron," Hermione says to him," It's up to you to do it."

He just harrumphs again has he scarfs his food down his gullet as if it were all going to disappear on him any second. Harry just shakes his head and continues eating. After his third helping of bacon and fried tomatoes he decides he has had enough and looks over to Hermione.

"You ready my Lady," he asks her.

"I am my Lord," she replies, so the couple leaves the table and heads up their dorms to collect their trunks for the trip home. They both shrink them down to matchbook size and put them in their pockets. They meet again in the common room where hand in hand they leave through the portrait hole for the walk to the front of the castle and the awaiting carriages. Neville, Susan and Hannah are all standing there waiting on them to ride in a carriage together.

"Wait one guys," Harry says looking around," There is one more I want to join us."

"Not Ron," Susan moans.

"No, not Ron," Hermione says," Ah here she comes now."

"Luna!" Hermione yells out.

The small girl looks up at her name being called in surprise and cringes a little; wondering why anyone would be interested in her; especially after being picked on by everyone for the whole year at Hogwarts. She watches as the girl everyone thought should be in Ravenclaw runs towards her. Hermione slows to a walk as she approaches Luna and puts her right arm around her and leads her to one of the carriages where four other people are waiting.

"You're riding with us in the Thestral drawn carriages," Hermione says.

"You can see them too?" Luna asks.

"Harry and Susan can see them as well," Hermione answers," We all have something in common."

Luna looks up at her in surprise, wondering what the great Hermione Potter could have in common with her. Harry helps her climb into the carriage for the ride to the train station in Hogsmeade and then climbs in behind her. He and Neville had helped Hermione and the others board already. The ride to the station is uneventful and soon everyone is settled into a compartment at the back of the train.

The other three are looking at Luna who is quietly sitting in the corner after pulling out a copy of her daddy's magazine when the train starts on the journey back to London and platform nine and three quarters.

"Everyone," Harry says to the group," This is Luna Lovegood. She is the girl we were talking about last night who has an IQ of nearly two hundred. She gets picked on by her housemates because they don't understand how such a beautiful little creature like this can be smarter than they are. She single handedly racked up two thirds of all the points made by Ravenclaw this year."

"She is also one of the main reasons we are doing away with the houses," Hermione says to the group," With us children being grouped by age we can avoid being picked on by older students."

"Luna," Harry says to get the attention of the blushing girl," You will be a second year next year and probably one of the leaders for your dorm. At the very least, you can tutor some of the first years and help Professor Sprout with the other children. You are no longer going to be a Ravenclaw. You will be a Hufflepuff dorm student. In your third and fourth year you will be Gryffindor dorm student. You will then be back in Ravenclaw dorm for fifth and sixth and finally Slytherin dorm for seventh year. All points earned will go on your record and will count towards becoming a prefect and maybe even head girl."

"This goes for everyone in this room and on this train," Hermione says," There will be no more house rivalries that cause fights in the hallways and you will be able to make friends with everyone within your age group."

"Friends," Luna says dreamily," I've never had friends before."

"Well you have five now," Neville declares for the group, getting nods from Susan and Hannah.

Luna starts crying and Hermione sits next to her to comfort her.

"Remember when I said we all have something in common?" Hermione asks.

Luna nods with tears still flowing.

"We have all lost someone in our life that was dear to us," Harry says," Hermione lost her big brother when she was five and the rest of us lost our parents in the Blood War. Susan's aunt takes care of her and Hannah while I am living with my muggle relatives. Hermione's parents don't know it yet but they gained a son-in-law last night when she and I bonded. You now have five friends that will always be there for you. Talk it over with your father and if you want I can take you under the protection of House Potter. You can be Hermione and I's little sister."

Luna's eyes get real big," You would do that? You've only known me for a few hours."

"In a heartbeat," Hermione says giving her a hug," you may not believe this now but Harry and I know you a lot better than you think we do."

When Hermione says that, Luna's eyes go glassy and unfocused.

"_**The ones to vanquish the dark lord have been given to us from beyond time. With powers granted by the Creator of all Things the bonded immortals will unite families together and will cause the darkness to leave this land forever. They will go on to become great leaders and innovators and will bring the world into peace and harmony. The ones to vanquish the dark lord have arrived."**_

Luna's eyes clear up and she spots everyone staring at her.

"What?" she asks," Was it something I said?"

"Merlin," Susan whispers," She's a true seer."

"And only us five will know about it," Harry declares," I will not have her taken advantage of."

The goblins of Gringotts record the Prophesy along with the Unspeakables in the Department of Mysteries at the ministry. Both are excited with the news, while the people at the ministry just record the words, the People of the Goblin Nation know who they refer to and are looking forward to serving them.

ooOOoo

About one third of the way through the trip Harry and Hermione stand up to address their friends.

"Harry and I have to leave for an hour or so to go to Gringotts," Hermione informs them," We need to get something done before we reach London."

"How are you going to do that Harry?" Neville asks.

"We will phase to them," he says," It is our special way of travel. It is kind of like apparition but more like the transporters from Star Trek. Our ability also allows us to phase to and from a moving object such as this train."

"Must be part of your powers granted by the Creator," Hannah reasons.

"You are correct Hannah," Hermione says," We will be back shortly."

"Can you take me with you?" Luna asks.

"I think that is a great idea," Harry says," I think the goblins will want to meet you Luna. They hold seers in the highest regard, as do we."

Luna stands between Harry and Hermione and holds a hand of each while the rest of the compartment watch as they fade away silently. They fade back in inside a special room at Gringotts set aside for this purpose that the Potters know about. An alarm alerts the goblins of the arrival of the trio and one of the Kings guards enters the room and bows to them.

"Please follow me," he says," you are expected."

They bow back to the guard.

"Lead on honorable warrior," Harry and Hermione say in perfect Gobbledygook.

The warrior salutes them and leads them out of the room and down a series of corridors carved from the bedrock of London. They soon come to an ordinary door that opens up to an opulent office that is a good fifty meters deep and twenty five meters wide. There is a guard every five meters along both walls as they walk to the desk on the far end of the office. They pass a pit in the floor five meters by five meters with a sandy bottom that is two meters below the floor.

"It's called the Pit of Ascension," the goblin at the desk informs them," any goblin of a certain rank can challenge the current king and if they win they will ascend to the throne. Welcome to Gringotts. I am Ragnok Stonebreaker, the current King of the Goblin Nation."

The trio all bow low to the king and Harry and Hermione chant in perfect Gobbledygook," You honor us with your presence oh mighty one. May your vaults be filled with the gold of your enemies?"

"And may your enemies tremble at your presence and be crushed beneath your boots." Ragnok says in return," What can Gringotts do for you, chosen ones?"

Harry steps forward," We basically came to get a heritage test done and to claim the Potter rings from my vaults. Hermione and I were bonded and marked yesterday by the Creator. We are ready to take up the mantle of our heritage and destiny."

"Very well," Ragnok says as he sets two bowls and daggers on his desk in front of them," I need blood from each of you to fill the ink wells up to the runes along the edge. When the runes light up; that is enough. Place the quill in the ink well and it will use your blood to write out your blood lines."

(An: I read this procedure in another story and it seems like the logical way to do this, so I put it in here.)

"The daggers won't work on us," Hermione says," We found that out when we upgraded the wards at Hogwarts. We seem to be impervious to injury, but we have a way to fulfill your needs."

They each hold a hand over their ink well and clench it into a fist and squeeze. Drops of blood start dripping into the wells, filling them until the runes flare golden. They insert the quills and let them go as they seem to take on a life of their own. The quills soak up the blood and move over to two scrolls of parchment, where they start writing in fancy script. After about thirty minutes and several feet of parchment the quills become stationary and the scrolls roll up. Ragnok picks up the scrolls and sets one aside. He unrolls the one for Hermione and reads.

"You are definitely not a first generation witch, Lady Potter," Ragnok says," You already know you are descended from two of the founders so that means your parents are squibs with Slytherin on your father's side and Ravenclaw from your mothers. You can trace your ancestry all the way back to Moragana LeFay. You share vaults one and two with your husband and own vaults three and four. There are several minor family vaults that you are entitled to that have passed on without an heir. We will consolidate all of them for you into one larger vault to make it easier for you to get at your assets. The same goes for you Lord Potter. You also have several vaults along with vaults five and six."

"Whose vault is number one?" Harry asks.

"Number one is Merlin's vault," Ragnok says," it is also the vault for the Pendragon family. You may find some useful things in there."

Luna nods in a knowing way when Ragnok says that and he gives her a wink and nod of his own.

"You honor us with your presence seer," Ragnok says.

"Thank you sire," Luna responds," I asked Harry and Hermione if I could come with them. I'm Luna Lovegood of the most Ancient and most Noble house of the same name. I've always wanted to meet you and now I have."

She reaches out to shake his hand and when she touches him her eyes get all glassy again.

"_**You will have a long and profitable reign King Ragnok. No longer will the People be looked down upon by wizards. With help from the Chosen Ones you will bring the Goblin Nation into the light with all of the magical peoples of the world and stand by their side as they bring peace and harmony to all."**_

She lets go of his hand and her eyes focus once more. She blushes and curtsies to Ragnok, backing away to stand by Harry and Hermione, who are astonished by what they heard.

"Well," Harry says," I've never thought anything else about other magical peoples. As far as I'm concerned, if you can communicate and interact with others that makes you people, just like us. You're just different is all."

A knock sounds on the door and a young goblin runner came in. He hands some boxes to Ragnok with a bow and leaves, closing the door behind him.

"It is very refreshing to hear you say that young Lord." Ragnok says while holding out the main box for Harry to take," Here are the rings you requested."

Harry opens the box and puts on the Potter family ring. There is a brief flash as the ring recognizes the new Head of House and resizes to fit his finger. A smaller box holds the lady of the house ring which Harry puts on her right ring finger. The other box holds the Potter ancestral wedding rings. Harry places the wedding and then engagement band on Hermione's left ring finger and she places his wedding ring on his ring finger.

"Would you like to visit your vaults Lord and Lady Potter?" Ragnok asks.

"Not right now King Ragnok," Harry says," we have to get back to the train before it arrives in London, which will be in a few minutes."

"One last request before we leave," Hermione asks," Do you have a way we can access our gold without coming to the bank?"

"Yes we do," Ragnok says pulling out two black cards with a gold G on the face," I had anticipated you might want these. Just one drop of blood each and they will be tied to your vaults. They have anti-theft and fraud charms on them. If you lose your card, or it is stolen it will return to you automatically."

"Thank you sire," Harry says as he and Hermione allow a drop of blood on each of their cards." The spending limit is based on what's in your vaults. For you two it might as well be unlimited as I don't think you could spend money faster than your investments bring in. Good luck to you and I look forward to seeing you again in the near future. May your enemies fear you and run in fright from your might."

"And may your vaults be filled with the gold of your enemies sire," Harry and Hermione chant in Gobbledygook as they bow low to the King of the Goblin Nation, fading out as the last word is said.

Ragnok looks on in amazement and then chuckles to himself," Those two are going to be a delight to work with."

ooOOoo

Harry and Hermione phase back into their train compartment to be greeted by the rest of the group.

"How did it go?" Susan asks Hermione.

Hermione just holds up her left hand to show her rings, causing the other girls to squeee in excitement. After all, it is not every day that a thirteen year old girl gets to a wear diamond and emerald engagement ring, along with a wedding band. She holds up her other hand to show her Potter matriarch ring and Susan gives her a formal bow.

"Nice to make your acquaintance My Lady," she says formally, then giggles as only a young girl can.

Hermione smiles at Susan for her antics knowing she is a young girl having fun. Hermione may be thirteen in her body but she is mentally nineteen and happy to have friends this time around. She is dreading the end of the trip, but between her and Harry they have some news that should straighten out her zealously religious parents. She just hopes they will be reasonable and listen to them.

"You know Susan," Hermione says to her," you are the heir to a most ancient and most noble house as well. Along with Neville, Luna, Harry and I, and Sirius Black, we make up the five founding families of our society. We are all that is left of the most ancient and most noble houses. Harry and I also found out we are descended from Merlin for him and Morgana Lefay for me. This compartment represents the true nobility of the British magical world. People like Malfoy may strut around acting all high and mighty, but the truth is his family had to buy their way onto the Wizengamot as they certainly are **not** from an old British family line like we are."

She turns to Hannah," And we will always keep our friends close and protected."

Hannah blushes at the praise," Thank you My Lady."

"None of that My Lady business," Hermione says," we are amongst friends. We will only use our titles if needed; maybe to keep a few adults in line?"

The whole group laughs at that last line. Luna is getting the sense that she is finally fitting in and now has some true friends. An hour later the train pulls into the platform in London and the children all depart to join with their families for summer vacation. Harry and Hermione step down from then train and walk through the barrier to Kings Cross station where Hermione's parents are waiting. They give her a look of impatience as they wait for her to walk out to them. Harry notices his uncle Vernon also standing impatiently waiting as well.

"Wait here a minute Hermione," Harry says and kisses her on the cheek.

Hermione's parents both raise their eyebrows at the affection shown by Harry. They watch as he walks over to a fat man standing away from everyone else.

"Come on boy," they hear him say," Bad enough I had to drive all the way to London to pick up a freak like you. I suppose that little girl is a freak as well? She would have to be one of your kind, no one else would want to be around you."

"Go home uncle Vernon" Harry says to him calmly, despite the insults," I will no longer live with you. I came into my inheritance day before yesterday and am now considered an adult in my world. I will come by sometime during the summer to get you to sign emancipation papers for me, so I no longer have to live with you and put up with your nonsense."

"Why you insolent little brat," he says and takes a swing at Harry. Harry reaches out and catches Vernon's hand in mid swing, stopping it cold. Petunia swings her purse at his head and it just bounces off as if he didn't even feel it. Even Dudley tries to get into the act and only hurts his hand when he hits Harry.

"You know Vernon," Harry says to him as he holds his fist still while he is struggling to take it back," If you had just shown me some love, I would have been happy to share some of my wealth with you. As it is, you are going to get just what you deserve. Nothing."

With a small shove Vernon is knocked back on his bum as Harry walks away. The Grangers watch and hear the whole thing. They think the Bible says Hermione has to be evil because she is a witch, but she is still their daughter and even though they barely tolerate her they would never hit her. They watch as Harry walks up to Hermione and she takes his arm as they walk over to them.

"Mum, Dad," she says to them," This is Harry Potter, my best friend and more."

Harry reaches out to shake their hands, which they do to be polite.

"It's nice to finally meet the parents of the most beautiful person in the world," Harry says to them while looking her father in the eyes, sending a compulsion command," We need to have a serious talk about your daughter and your beliefs about her. You are walking down a road that will only lead to strife and heartache, without knowing all of the facts."

Harry leads them over to a secluded area where he turns to Hermione.

"Take us home," he says to her," Dobby can bring their car home in a bit."

"Okay Harry," she says and then turns to her parents," Each of you take hold of one of us and we will go home the easy way. We will explain everything once there as this is family business and no one else's."

Hermione's mother takes her hand, she takes her dad's hand and Harry takes Hermione's. They phase out from Kings Cross and into the sitting room of the Granger house in Crawley, which is a three story Tudor style home with a basement and large back yard that has a pool and hot tub. The elder Grangers cling to each other in fright from the unexpected mode of travel. Harry beckons them to sit on the couch while Harry and Hermione sit on the love seat across from them. Her parents notice how close they are sitting and are wondering if it is another thing about magic that they don't understand, thinking it must be part of their evil ways. They take in Harry's appearance with the shabby clothes that appear too big for him and notice his shoes are falling apart. They look away with disdain at his obvious poor taste in clothes. While they don't associate with their daughter too much, they at least make sure she has decent clothes to wear and a roof over her head.

"_He must not have any money if he dresses like that,"_ they think to themselves.

Harry and Hermione look at each other incredulously, having picked up her parents thoughts. Did they think Harry was supposed to buy his own clothes? He's only twelve for Merlin's sake.

"You really do hate me, don't you," Hermione whispers with tears forming in her eyes.

"Hate is such a strong word, Hermione," her mother responds," If we hated you we would have given you to an orphanage when your brother died saving your life. It was bad enough when that happened, but when we found out you that were a witch we just knew it was God's way of punishing us for Michael's death. The Bible says to not suffer a witch to live so…"

"STOP RIGHT THERE," Harry says holding his hand up as he comforts a crying Hermione," For someone as highly educated as you two, I can't believe I am hearing this. Have you not studied the history of the bible or who wrote it and when it was written? The Old Testament, Exodus 22:18, where that statement comes from was translated by someone who had an agenda of his own. The original Hebrew translation of that line says to not suffer a poisoner to live among you. Five thousand years ago, when those people were alive, someone going around poisoning their livestock or even poisoning someone's mind with propaganda was a very bad thing. The first five books of the Old Testament are stories that were passed down from parents to their children for ages until writing was invented and someone recorded the stories in whatever written form they had at the time. You know how stories tend to become more exaggerated and grand the more they are told. Who knows what the original events that inspired the stories actually were? The only entity that does know is the Creator of all Things, or God as you call him. To be sure, the Bible as a whole is a good guide book on how you should live your life. Now, the New Testament was definitely put together by people who had a political agenda. Mostly, they were trying to stay under the radar of the Roman Empire, so left out the more controversial writings of the time. You do know that the New Testament is a collection of short stories and letters written by various authors over a long period of time that were gathered together to make a book to allow the newly forming Cristian church to guide the illiterate people into believing as they do? It was even changing constantly until King James stepped in and authorized his quote, **official** version unquote, to make the Church of England conform to his wishes. It's been the official version of the bible used worldwide ever since."

Harry pauses for a few minutes as he conjures a tea set and pours tea for everyone. One lump of sugar for him, a dash of milk, not stirred for Hermione, two spoons of artificial sweetener for Mrs. Granger and straight black for Mr. Granger. The two adults look in surprise that he knows how they take their afternoon tea. After a sip Hermione snuggles into Harry, enraptured by his knowledge and ability to teach.

"Now, I want to bring up that Hermione and I both take the Creator's words seriously as a guide in our lives as well. It was one part of the Bible that made me realize that I love your daughter more than life itself. You saw how my Uncle treated me at the train station. Before going to Hogwarts I never knew what love was until a little girl gave me a page she had torn from her Bible. She told me that her mother had told her that if she lived by those words she would never get into trouble and would always be happy. I think, from what I can read in your eyes and what Hermione has told me that you have forgotten these very powerful words and I quote,

'_**Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.' **_

"1 Corinthians 13:4-8," Mr. Granger whispers with tears starting to form in his eyes.

"That is correct," Harry continues," Those words allowed me to put my feelings about Hermione in context as I didn't understand what those feelings were thanks to the Dursleys."

"You don't talk like any twelve year old kid I've ever known," Mrs. Granger says looking at Harry as she wipes tears from her face.

Harry conjures a handkerchief and hands it to her. She takes it with a nod.

"That will come later after we explain some more things to you that you need to know," Harry says," As you can tell, I'm trying to get you to see Hermione in a different light and when you get all of the facts I think you will. I don't truly believe you hate your daughter, or even dislike her. You are just like so many others who blindly follow what is written in the Bible and take it as absolute fact. I'm sure even the priests know the Earth is more than six thousand years old. The Bible is a good book to base your life on but it is only a guide. The problem with religion in general is it is man made. Each of the different versions of the Christian religion is based on that religion's interpretation of the Bible. The Americans practically have a church on every corner and they are all different in how they interpret what is written. Who's to say which interpretation is the correct one? The Creator just is. He has always been here and will always be here. It is not for us to say what he wants or needs us to do. That is why I call the Bible a good guide to live by. For that matter, the Koran the Muslims live by is a good guide for them as their culture is different than ours. Okay, enough of that. You get where I am coming from right?"

The Grangers nod to him and wait for him to continue.

"I'm going to ask you some questions I believe will help you to understand about Hermione and myself being magical beings versus being evil because you, and here's that word again, **interpret** the bible as saying we are. The first question; do you believe that God is all knowing, all seeing, all powerful and can't make mistakes?"

They both nod yes to that question wondering where he is going.

"Okay second question; do you believe that God created all life on this planet and created the universe?"

They nod again as this is what's been taught to both of them since they were very young.

"Good," Harry says," now think about this. If God can do all of those things then what would keep him from creating two types of life on Earth, say magical and non-magical beings. In his wisdom he must have had a reason? Being a witch or a wizard with real magic is not the same thing as the practicing of witchcraft that some non-magical peoples do. As long as they don't use that to harm others then there is no reason not to allow them to continue. Some of them are even looked upon as the wise men or women of their peoples. Mostly they are just well educated in the ways of their people and keep the younger ones from straying too far. The inquisition and the witch hunts from long ago was just a way for the clergy to weed out anyone that did not follow the teachings of the church and the state used that excuse to get rid of its political enemies. Not a one of the people that were legally murdered by the church was a true witch or wizard. They were too smart to get caught and could easily escape by dissaperation."

"Mum, Dad?" Hermione speaks up looking at each of them desperately," What Harry is trying to tell you is the fact that I can do magic doesn't make me evil. The people accused of witchcraft in the witch hunts were non-magical people just like you. It was superstition and fear of the unknown that drove neighbor to turn against neighbor. The person or persons that misinterpreted, there's that word again, that phrase from the Hebrew did it on purpose because that is what they wanted to believe. If it was written that way in the Bible it would give them the legal power needed to get rid of the enemies of the church and the state agreed as they could use the same to get rid of their enemies. The people back then were mostly illiterate and easily led. That is how the church became so powerful. It is still powerful, look how they have brainwashed you into not wanting to be around your own daughter."

With that she bursts into tears and runs up the stairs to her bedroom slamming the door behind her. The Grangers watch her run up the stairs with longing in their eyes. They want to believe Harry and she is right, they want to go to her, but don't know what to do to reconcile with her.

"See what I mean about strife and heartache?" Harry says as they turn back to him and his eyes harden. He pulls out Hermione's scroll from his pocket and enlarges it, handing it to her mother.

"What's this?" she asks.

"Hermione and I went to Gringotts today and took a heritage test to see who our ancestors were," Harry answers," That is Hermione's family tree. If you trace the line down you will find it goes all of the way back to Morgana Lefay, who was Merlin's apprentice. Yes, they were real people. The shock for you is that you and Mr. Granger are what some of the more surly pure-bloods call squibs. I prefer enhanced mundane myself, it is more dignified. What it means is that both of you have some magic, but not enough to use a wand. Unfortunately, this happens every now and then in a magical family. Your grandparents were probably magical and they didn't tell you about your heritage, so you had no way of knowing."

"Both of us grew up in St. Catherin's orphanage," Mr. Granger answers," we were told our grandparent were killed in World War Two and both our parents were killed in car crashes at different times. We met when we were seven at the orphanage. We became friends but we each believed in what the nuns taught us in school. They were very strict and it wasn't until we graduated from college that I got up the courage to ask Helen out on a date. We had a lot in common and decided to get married after a few dates. I'm afraid we are both rather like yourself in that while the nuns took care of us they couldn't show through example how to love like a parent. We've never told Hermione this and because of what we went through we would have never sent her to an orphanage. What you have told us this afternoon has changed a lot of our ideas about the church and the way we have been acting towards her. We want to love her, we just don't know how."

Hermione had crept back down the stairs when she heard them talking to Harry and when she hears that last statement she runs around the corner crying and hugs both of her parents.

"We'll figure it out together," she says to them through hers and their tears. After a few minutes she backs away from them and snuggles once more into Harry's side.

"Mum, Dad?" Hermione says while holding up her left hand," Harry and I have some other news to give you that will answer your question on how we seem to act more mature than we look. There is also another reason why we both agree that the Bible is a good guide to follow. It triggered everything that has brought us to this point. What we are going to tell you may sound a bit farfetched, but if you believe God, who we call the Creator, can do anything, then you will believe what we are about to say."

Hermione's mother's eyes go wide when she sees the wedding and engagement rings on her finger. Despite what they represent, her opinion of Harry's worth skyrockets. She just doesn't understand why he is dressed in rags. Then she remembers what Harry said to that fat man at the train station. This ought to be good. Her husband seemed to pick up on her thoughts as he nods to her and sits back to wait for her explanation.

"These are exactly what they look like," Hermione says," Yesterday at the leaving feast Harry and I bonded in what we heard the Headmaster say was a soul bond. To us we were just kissing each other to confirm that we were still actually us. I know that sounds kind of odd but just before the kiss I found myself in the hospital wing after de-petrifying myself and discovering I was back in second year again."

"You did that Hermione?" Harry interrupts in awe," You actually broke the petrification on your own?"

"Yes I did Harry," she answered," after that kiss in the common room I couldn't stand to be without you and I wasn't going to wait any longer, I had to get back to you. When I looked into your eyes I knew it was the real you and ran to you for another kiss."

"Wait," Hermione's mother interrupts," What petrification? Were you injured at that school again? I have a good mind to not let you go back if you are going to get hurt every year."

"It's okay mum," Hermione says," I got petrified by a Basilisk by looking at its eyes through a reflection in my mirror."

"You mean you had to use a mirror to get around the school?" Helen Granger shrieks grabbing Hermione to check her over for injuries," You are definitely not going back to that school. I know what a basilisk is and I'm surprised you didn't get killed."

"That's why I was using the mirror mum," Hermione sighs," There were several others that were petrified and I had to go to the Library to figure out what was causing it. I was with a fifth year prefect and she got petrified too. No one got killed. Besides, Harry killed the basilisk right after. Got bit for his trouble too and had to stay in the hospital wing for a while."

"Good on you son," George Granger says thanking God Harry was there to protect her.

"You're still not going back to that school," Mrs. Granger insists.

"It's going to be okay mum," Hermione emphasizes," that is part of what we have to tell you. Now where was I? Oh yea, Harry and I kissed and bonded in the Great Hall in front of the whole school. We actually glowed and floated two meters off the floor. The reason we wanted to reaffirm to each other we were the real us is because **to** us fifteen minutes earlier we were kissing in the common room of Gryffindor tower and it was nineteen ninety eight. We had just defeated the terrorist known as Lord Voldemort and Harry asked me to be his girlfriend, something I had been wishing for since first year. Those lines from Corinthians, is what started this whole deal. In my mind I am almost nineteen years old and Harry is eighteen."

"To help you believe this I will ask you another question," Harry says.

"Go ahead and ask," George Granger says, as it is starting to make sense how the two kids are so smart.

"Do you know what the mark of the Creator is?" Harry asks.

"Yes," Mrs. Granger answers," Despite our religious beliefs, I am a big fan of folklore and legend. The mark of the Creator is supposed to be an Ankh, and not just any ankh. It has to have rays streaming out of it and they have to be in seaming constant motion. Something no tattoo artist could fake."

Harry and Hermione walk up to the Grangers and turn their heads, pulling their hair aside to show their marks.

Mr. and Mrs. Granger gasp and get down on their knees with their heads bowed. Hermione grabs her mother by the arms and lifts her effortlessly up while Harry does the same to Mr. Granger.

"You are not to bow to us," Harry says," We are not worthy of it. We believe the Creator sent us back in time to prevent the war that killed so many innocent people. This war also made Hermione remove your memories of her and send you to Australia to keep you safe. With her knowing you were safe she could then fight by my side against the darkness. And believe me, she is a force to be reckoned with. She is second in power level only to me and with our bond she is now right up there with me."

"Dad, Mum," Hermione says while walking over to the fireplace. She picks up the wrought iron poker and bends it into a knot," You don't have to worry about me or Harry getting hurt. These marks tell us that the Creator blessed our bonding and has given us the power needed to complete our task. So far we haven't been able to hurt ourselves. That scroll Harry gave you required an inkwell of blood to work and we couldn't cut ourselves with the daggers provided. We had to will the blood to flow. What we found out through the heritage test is Harry and I are descended from all four founders of our school and from Merlin and Morgana Lefay, the two most famous magic users ever known. That means we own Hogwarts and with all of the vaults we acquired are now the richest witch and wizard in the world. You don't have to worry about how Harry is going to support me. One other thing that you probably won't like; the soul bond requires us to sleep together as we have to have skin to skin contact at least eight hours a day for the first few months of the bond. You don't have to worry about anything other than sleeping as Harry and I are too young to do anything else but sleep. We are married after all and even though in our minds we are old enough, we just have to wait for our bodies to catch up."

"After what you have told us Hermione," her father says," I think we can trust you."

She runs to her father and gives him a big hug," I love you daddy."

"I love you too sweetheart," he says," hugging you like this feels too good and I don't know why we ever doubted you."

Hermione walks over to Harry," And I love you with all of my heart Harry. Thank you for giving me my parents back."

She then proves her love by kissing him while pouring everything she has into the kiss. Her parents look on in awe as the two preteens take on a soft glow with the feeling of love emanating from them, saturating the room.

ooOOoo


End file.
